Thokozani Khupe breaks down

MDC-T vice president Thokozani Khupe last week broke down during the party's national council meeting in Harare after receiving a barrage of insults from party supporters not happy with her push for the party to contest in the June 10 parliamentary by-elections.

The beleaguered party met last Friday at its Harvest House headquarters and upheld its decision to boycott by-elections in the 14 constituencies which fell vacant following the expulsion of 21 former MDC-T renegade MPs from Parliament.

MDC-T members have, however, been jostling to fill the seven proportional representation seats.

In an indication of frosty relations between Khupe and her boss, party president Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC-T leader left his deputy at the mercy of ordinary party members who heckled and harangued her.

In scenes reminiscent of the time former secretary-general Tendai Biti and deputy treasurer-general Elton Mangoma were attacked by party youths in Tsvangirai's glare, Khupe was insulted by a group of protesters who told her in no uncertain terms that she did not hold sway in Harare.